WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -
Purdue senior Paula Reto won the individual medal with a five-under par 211 at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championships in Knoxville, Tenn., helping the No. 9/16 Purdue women's golf team to a third place finish. The Boilermakers posted a 288 in the final round for a three-round total of 872.

Reto saved her best round of the event for the final day, recording a three-under par 69 for the win. It is the first individual title of the season for the senior from Cape Town, South Africa, and the third of her career. Reto has been the Boilermakers low individual in all three fall tournaments.

Penn State captured the team title with a score of 867 (291-289-287, +3). The Lady Lions held the lead for all three rounds, finishing things off with a 287 on Sunday. Tennessee, the tournament host, finished in second place, one stroke ahead of the Boilermakers with a team score of 871 (292-289-290, +7).

Purdue sophomore Aurora Kan also shot her best round of the tournament on Sunday with a 70 and tied for seventh with an even-par 216 (73-73-70). The seventh-place finish is a personal best for Kan. Senior Laura Gonzalez-Escallon shot a 75 on Sunday to finish tied for 32nd with a three-round total of 224 (76-73-75).

Classmate Kishi Sinha also tied for 32nd at 224. Sinha carded a 74 in the last round after carding 75s in the first two rounds.

Freshman Margaux Vanmol tied for 40th place at 226. She had a 78 in the final round after get 74 each of the first two days. Freshman Brooke Beegle tied for 62nd after recording an 82 for a total of 234 (76-76-82).

The 16th edition of the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championships was held the Holston Hills Country Club which was set up as a par-72, 6,447-yard venue for the tournament. Purdue won the tournament in 2001 when it was held at a different course.

The Boilermakers have one fall tournament remaining, the prestigious Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C., on Oct. 26 to 28 at the Country Club of Landfall, the site of Purdue's 2010 national championship.